The top 5 ways to embed Google Earth content on your site

Now that the Google Earth plugin works in Firefox 3 (Windows-only still…), we thought we’d run through some of the best ways to embed Google Earth content on your site.

5. Embed existing files and collections from Google Earth Hacks

Google Earth Hacks has over 20,000 files on their site, all of which can be embedded into your own. In addition, their collections can be embedded. Both implementations are very straightforward, but require that a file is already on their site. Here is what an embedded collection looks like:

Similar to Google Earth Hacks, Golf Nation allows you to embed any of their existing courses onto your own site. This could be pretty useful if you just played a round and want to embed that course into your blog post about your great score. The quality of the files can vary quite a bit, so here is one of the better ones:

StreetCities is by far the most complex integration we’ve seen, for better and for worse. You have a ton of options on how you want your map to look, and it’s very well done. It’s not a great place to go for a quick map, but it’s worth playing with when you have a chance.

2. Easily embed a KML with TakItWithMe

TakItWithMe was the first site to offer the plugin in an embeddable manner. Their script is quite simple, and allows you pull a KML into the map. However, the KML needs to be hosted online somewhere (no upload feature), which is kind of a bummer. Still, it’s nice way to build a quick embed from any KML that you know of.

1. Embed a map in a few seconds with ShareIt

ShareIt is another entry from Google Earth Hacks, but this one takes the cake. There are no frills with this one — just a very simple way to embed the map on your site. Title it, find your location on the globe (either by zooming or by searching with the box below it), and that’s it. If you want a simple way to show your house, your church, your favorite stadium, etc, this is the way to do it.